Sheriff's deputies, GBI working to establish identity of skeleton found in woods in Brantley County

Terry Dickson

Wednesday

Jul 31, 2013 at 4:13 PM

The Brantley County Sheriff's Office and Georgia Bureau of Investigation are looking for clues to identify a skeleton found off Georgia 110 north of the Atkinson community.

Hunters found the skeletal remains about 3 p.m. Tuesday in a wooded area and contacted the Sheriff's Office, said Mike McDaniel, special agent in charge of the GBI's Kingsland office.

Investigators worked the scene Tuesday until a heavy thunderstorm forced them to stop but had collected part of the skeleton and sent it to the GBI crime lab in Savannah, McDaniel said.

Sheriff's deputies and GBI agents returned to the scene Wednesday to collect more evidence, and worked through much of the day until another afternoon storm compelled them to stop, he said.

If the lab does not identify the remains through testing, it could provide enough information to establish a cause of death and a description, such as sex and race, that could be used to ask for the public's help, McDaniel said.

McDaniel said he is contacting law enforcement offices in the area to check missing persons records.

Terry Dickson: (912) 264-0405

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